What to do if a friend wants to shop your music to the big decision-makers in Los Angeles

Isn’t this what independent musicians have been asking for since the dawn of the rock era? A level playing field? One that doesn’t depend upon who you know and who you can get access to? One that depends solely on talent, skill, and your artistic ability?

Let’s say you have a trusted friend who has all sorts of contacts in the music industry and knows of all sorts of opportunities. Suppose he tells you that he has some time to go to Los Angeles tomorrow on your behalf and get a bunch of decision makers to sit down and listen to your best track.

He can’t guarantee they will love what they hear but he can guarantee they will listen and that they will provide an answer one way or another whether or not they can license your music, sign your band, or perhaps keep it on file for future opportunities. You don’t have to spend weeks or months to find the opportunities or network your way in. Your friend has already done that. He’s also verified that the people he’s meeting with are legit and that the opportunities are real.

Holy crap! Right?

When I was growing up playing in bands I’d have given up anything for a friend like that!

On his list he has a Grammy nominated producer named Rob Epitome who is a hired ear for Cher, Rhianna, and Interscope Records. Your friend can also get your music to the desk Ernesto Elias at MTV. They license about 250 songs per week for their various shows. Then, he can drive over to Arthouse Entertainment, a company founded by renowned hit songwriter and former American Idol judge, Kara DioGuardi and who have been represented on the Billboard Top Ten albums chart with songs and productions on Bruno Mars (Doowops & Hooligans), Cee-Lo (The Lady Killer), Carrie Underwood (Play On), The Band Perry (The Band Perry), Britney Spears (Circus), Pink (Funhouse), Katy Perry (One of the Boys), Sugarland (Love on the Inside), Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus), and David Archuleta’s self-titled debut.

After that, your friend can take your music right into the office of Jeff Blue; you know, the guy responsible for signing Macy Gray, Daniel Powter, Linkin Park, and who just signed a band called w.e.r.m. to Universal Republic. He can then take your music in to the A&R department at Epic Records (Sony) and even to music supervisor Mike Turner, who is working on a new film staring Lindsey Lohan and he needs music.

Lastly, he’s going to take your music into Grammy-winning producer Jeff Bova’s office to see what kind of feedback he can get on your music and what he might do to polish it up a bit (if needed) and maybe get a few contacts from him as to who else might be seeking tracks like yours.

This isn’t going to cost you much; just your friend’s plane ticket (economy class) to Los Angeles. Let’s say he lives in Nebraska. He just checked. If he leaves tomorrow (Wednesday) and comes back on Friday, the cost of the trip will be $196.

You’ll need to pick up the $100 tab for a cheap motel and the $150 for the rental car. Then let’s say you feel bad for the guy and you want to give him $50 for fast food while he’s out there and even though the value of his contacts, researching the opportunities, and the fact that he has the clout to walk right into their offices and guarantee they will listen to your music is arguably worth many thousands of dollars and took your friend half his career to establish, you’re not going to have to pay him for that. The whole shebang will only cost you $446.00.

Additionally, you’re not going to have to be the guy following up to make sure your music was heard. You get to stay home and continue to make music with the peace of mind that your friend is going to do what he said.

My point with the fiction I just painted is to demonstrate that the bargain-basement dreamworld, “never-gonna-happen” scenario above, still has a real out-of-pocket cost of $446.00. When you put that into perspective, Music Xray, which gets you the exact same result, is incredible value. You see, I used to be in your shoes. I grew up playing in garage bands in rural Nebraska and I didn’t have a friend who could or would do all that for me. That’s why my partners and I started this company and instead of those results costing you $446.00 (which as I pointed out is already insanely cheap), we’ll get all that done for you (every bit of it) for about $180. And you don’t even have to spend it all at once or even pay for any of the opportunities listed above that you’d prefer to skip. Do it at your own pace and pick and choose who you want to hear your music.

And the opportunities and contacts I mentioned above are a tiny fraction of those that are available to you on Music Xray. That’s not even anywhere close to exhausting our Los Angeles-based opportunities let alone those in New York or Nashville, or London…

Isn’t Music Xray what independent musicians have been asking for since the dawn of the rock era? A level playing field? One that doesn’t depend upon who you know and who you can get access to? One that depends solely on talent, skill, and your artistic ability?

Well, that reality is now here.

How do you like that?

Mike McCready is an entrepreneur at the crossroads of music and technology. He pioneered the introduction of Hit Song Science into the music industry and followed up with Music Xray, the company he co-founded and serves as CEO. His companies have been the subject of case studies at Harvard Business School, IESE and he frequently guest speaks at many of the top business schools around the world. He helps the music industry identify high potential songs and talent and helps musicians get deals, get fans, & get better: http://musicxray.com